2. Psychological Developmenta. Factors Governing DevelopmentPsychological development refers to reaching psychological, emotional, social and cognitive milestones as part of an individual's personal growth. Although adults have their own psychological challenges as they move through life stages, psychological development in childhood is a series of particularly intense and rapidly encountered milestones. These processes are also closely related to physical growth and the appearance of physical skills that are necessary for children to reach higher developmental levels. For instance, an infant learning to manipulate toys and other objects helps that baby develop a sense of self as opposed to other. In addition to physical growth, additional factors that influence psychological development in childhood include prenatal care and nutrition, childhood nutrition, maternal bonding, and parenting skill and style.

Prenatal care and its subsequent influence on prenatal development can have an enormous influence on psychological development in childhood. Adequate maternal nutrition — as provided by food and supplemental maternal vitamins — supplies the necessary building blocks for an infant's growth and progress. In addition to a minimal amount of nutrition, there are also foods and substances the mother should avoid or limit as the child's growth continues. Certain prescription and over-the-counter drugs and alcohol should be avoided completely and other foods that may allow toxins to accumulate in the body — including tuna and other types of fish — should be limited. Medical monitoring of the mother's pregnancy can also help prevent complications, such as gestational diabetes, from harming the health of the mother and the child.

Positive psychological development in childhood continues to be strongly related to optimal nutrition after the infant is born. A human infant's brain and nervous system grows exponentially in the first few years of life and adequate nutrition is necessary to sustain this rapid growth. Breastfeeding during infancy is said to promote an infant's immune system, provide excellent nutrition and promote maternal-child bonding and an infant's sense of security. An infant's first relationship should be based in trust and security as this is thought to promote subsequent positive interactions with people and establish the very beginning of social skills. Continued positive relationships with parents and caretakers help promote continued socialization, a key aspect of psychological development in childhood.

Parenting skill and style is another factor that influences psychological development in childhood. Consistent parenting in what the child perceives as a safe environment encourages trust and exploration. Inconsistent supervision or a family atmosphere of constant turmoil and upheaval can lead to anxiety disorders and behaviors related to mistrust and avoidance. Parental limits consistently applied to a child's behavior help to encourage experimentation with novelty within known limits.

b. Sequential Stages in Development
Pre-natal developmentPre-natal development is of interest to psychologists investigating the context of early psychological development. The senses develop in the womb itself: a fetus can both see and hear by the second trimester (13 to 24 weeks of age). Sense of touch develops in the embryonic stage (5 to 8 weeks). Most of the brain's billions of neurons also are developed by the second semester. Babies are hence born with some odor, taste and sound preferences, largely related to the mother's environment.

Some primitive reflexes too arise before birth and are still present in newborns. One hypothesis is that these reflexes are vestigial and have limited use in early human life. Piaget's theory of cognitive development suggested that some early reflexes are building blocks for infant sensor motor development. For example the tonic neck reflex may help...

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...This essay will analyse the evidence both for and against the argument that development occurs in stages. There are many theories relating to child development. Many of which argue the existence of stages within the development process. One of the main theories is Piaget’s, who focused on the cognitive development of children. This essay will look at Piaget’s theory of cognitive development in children and examine any positive and negative aspects of this theory. It will also look at Freud’s theory of sexual development in children and investigate the positive and negative attributes of this theory. The final major theory that will be looked at is the information processing approach, with a brief look at positive and negative features of this particular theory.
The term development in itself can be defined as the progression of a living thing as it grows, matures and transforms throughout its lifetime (Smith, Cowie, Blades, 2003). Psychologists who study child development look at the way in which children develop. Many psychologists believe that development occurs in stages within children. Piaget particularly had a theory relating to the cognitive development of children. He believed there were four stages: the sensorimotor stage, which occurs in infancy, and is when the child uses their developing senses and motor skills to...

...Gender identity is an aspect of the developing self-concept. The main gender difference in early childhood is boys' greater aggressiveness. Girls tend to be more empathic and social and less prone to problem behavior. Cognitive differences appear early. This paper will focus on three gender development theories: social cognitive, gender-schema, psychosexual.
Social Cognitive Theory
Human isolation on the basis of gender is affects virtually every aspect of a person’s daily life. The social cognitive theory integrates psychological and sociostructural aspects within an environment. In this perspective, gender conceptions and roles are the product of a broad network of social influences operating interdependently. People contribute to their self-development and bring about social changes that define and structure gender relationships through their actions (Lobel).
Cognition means how you think, and the theory we will be looking at is Kohlberg’s Cognitive-Developmental Theory. The basic principle of the theory is that a child's understanding of gender develops with age. Kohlberg identified three stages in gender development.
The first is gender identity which happens at about 2 years of age, and it is where the child recognizes what makes a person male or female. The next stage happens at about 4 years and is called gender stability. At this stage, the child now understands that their gender is fixed and...

...his face appeared on the monies of Austria the 50 Schilling Bill and the bimetal millennial coin.
Freud’s work in the Laboratory consisted mostly of observation of careful anatomical observation rather than experimentation. Making detailed observations of individual patients attempting to draw assumptions about the human psyche.
There are four enduring contribution of Freud’s ideas:
(1) We do not always know why we are doing something.
(2) Conflicting Motives influences much of our behaviour.
(3) Our present relationships resembles past relations with our parents
(4) People develop through stages of psychosexual interaction and relationships with the social world.
Five Stages of Psychosexual Personality Development
Out of Freud’s fourth enduring contribution comes the theory that I would be dealing with. Freud’s theory spans from infancy to adolescence. Sexuality is his driving force. Each stage refers to a period of life during which a particular body zone is of heightened sexual importance. These body zones are called Erogenos areas. There are some terms that must be understood firstly the ID and the Libido. The ID exist in the unconscious part of the mind and its operations are completely unconscious. The id contains the Libido which is the primary source of instinctual motivation for all psychic forces. This force is insistent and unresponsive to the demands of reality. It obeys one rule only to obtain...

...Theories of Child Development
1. Three Major Stages in Freud’s Psychosexual Theory
a. Oral Stage
b. Phallic
c. Genital Stage
2. Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory in association with child development
a. Stages 1 and 2
b. Stages 3 and 4
3. Piaget’s Cognitive –Stage Theory
a. Sensorimotor Stage
b. Preoperational Stage
c. Concrete Operations Stage
4. Points of Similarity
a. Similarities
b. Differences
5. Why is understanding child development important?
a. Why is Freud’s theory important?
b. Why is Erikson’s theory important?
c. Why is Piaget’s Theory Important?
6. Conclusion
Theories of Child Development
Domingo J. Muniz
PSY104 Child and Adolescent Development
Steven DeWiggins
22 March 2010
Throughout the years many scientists, and experts alike have drawn certain conclusions about what is right and what is wrong in child development. I am no expert, but I believe that in order to have the best chance at raising a confident, dedicated, and socially accepted child theories of child development must be understood.
According to Sigmund Freud the first five or six years of a child’s life are crucial for personality development. Throughout these years Freud believed a series of stages driven by subconscious need for pleasure occur in what is known as the Psychosexual Theory of...

...﻿ The theory of psychosexual development, proposed by Sigmund Freud, states that successful completion of the 5 psychosexual stages (oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital stages) results in a healthy personality. A newborn baby is born with psychosexual energy or libido. The child's libido centers on behavior affecting the primary erogenous zone (mouth, anus, genitals) of his age; he cannot focus on the primary erogenous zone of the next stage without resolving the developmental conflict of the immediate one . At each stage little libido is deposited, the stage is resolved and the child moves on to the next stage. Overindulgence in a stage is called fixation, where a large amount of libido is deposited. The child becomes fixated at that stage until he is able to resolve it and move on to the next. Fixating on a particular stage, determines the method of obtaining satisfaction that will dominate and affect his adult personality .
The oral stage begins at birth through 18 months. According to the pleasure principle, the id dominates this stage, as the ego and superego have not yet been developed and the infant has no personality (identity) . The erogenous zone or focus of libidinal gratification is the mouth. Infants derive pleasure from feeding from the mother’s breast and from exploring their environment by placing objects in their mouths. Because the infant is entirely dependent upon adults (who are responsible for the child’s basic needs,...

...Child and Adolescent Development
The development of child and adolescents covers a large selection of human efforts that attempts to understand why a person acts the way he or she does, grows the way he, or she grows, and thinks the way he or she thinks. Human development has been studied since the beginning of psychology, in which the work of Sigmund Freud has been predominantly influential. Freud was the father of psychodynamics and the first to study human development and the inner workings of the mind as a result of childhood experiences. Since the time of Freud, child development has become a crucial aspect in virtually every field of psychology because of several influencing factors on childhood growth and experience.
The different stage theories are significant tools in understanding the psychology of human development. Each theorist offers logically uncomplicated justifications of human behavior. Unanswered questions are asked about how accurate a theory is based on characterizing human behavior in general can be when applied to one particular person. This paper it will discuss psychoanalytic, learning and cognitive perspectives, and will compare and, contrast the three. Also the interaction of cognitive, physical and emotional development in the development of the child will be discussed.
Psychoanalytical Perspectives
Sigmund Freud is best...

...Question
a)Compare and contrast WID and Gad approaches to involvement of women in development.{12}
b)Which of the two approaches have contributed more to the involvement of women in development activities?{8}
a)According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia,Women in development (WID) is an approach to development projects that emerged in the 1970s ,calling for treatment of women’s issues in development projects. Later ,the Gender and Development (GAD) approach proposed more emphasis on gender relations rather than seeing women’s issues in isolation.
Reeves,H. and Baden,S.(2000:33) stated that the WID approach calls for greater attention to women in development policy and practice ,and the need to integrate them into the development process. The approach was a reaction to women being seen as passive beneficiaries of development. It marked an important corrective, highlighting the fact that women need to be integrated into the development process as active agents if efficient and effective development is to be achieved. Women‘s significant productive contribution was made visible, although their reproductive role was downplayed. Women‘s subordination was seen in terms of their exclusion from the market sphere, and limited access to and control over...